DROP THE POP WINNERS Theme: Water, Right from the Tap!

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1 DROP THE POP WINNERS Theme: Water, Right from the Tap! All NWT schools that participate in Drop the Pop do a great job every year. 18 SCHOOLS were deserving of recognition this year for their efforts to encourage water as the healthiest and best option for students to drink. Some schools also promoted other activities to motivate their students to make healthy choices. Here is a list of the winning schools and some highlights of what some did to make the healthy choice and Drop the Pop! Beaufort Delta Education Angik School Paulatuk Debbie Redden-Cormier, Principal Moose Kerr School Aklavik Velma Illasiak, Principal Sahtu Divisional Education Chief T Selehye Fort Good Hope Vince Dikaitis, Principal South Slave Divisional Education P.W. Kaeser High School Fort Smith Al Karasiuk, Principal Angik School supported this year s theme by replacing juice with water as part of their Drop the Pop activities. Students were also asked not to bring pop into school. Education was provided on the benefits of making water students first beverage choice. Moose Kerr School conducted several activities for Drop the Pop. Students in each class pledged to participate in activities, such as creating awareness posters such as To Drink or Not Drink Milk for the public and young moms, jingles and fact sheets about sugar in drinks. Local stores provided nutritious snacks. The week of events ended with activities in the gym for younger students and skating for older students. K-6 students also received a toque with a drop the pop logo to commemorate the many years Drop the Pop has been successfully delivered in Aklavik. Chief T Selehye School was involved in Winter Carnival activities with all of the students receiving milk coupons as part of their Drop the Pop events. The school also incorporated Drop the Pop with their Slavey and Career Technology Studies program to cook traditional foods. PWK s Foods students provided healthier food options to at the school canteen. Foods students planned and made healthy hot lunches once a week at a very low cost. This popular activity helped students in Foods classes identify and prepare healthy 1

2 Chief Sunrise Education Centre Hay River Reserve Christina Steen, Principal South Slave Divisional Education Deninu School Fort Resolution Kate Powell, Principal Princess Alexandra School Hay River Carolyn Carroll, Principal meals in order to promote healthy choices, such as veggie and chicken wraps. Local stores helped by subsidizing the cost of milk, encouraging students to choose milk instead of sugary drinks. The school also collaborated with Fort Smith Health and Social Services Authority s Dietitian to create displays about healthy eating and nutrition education for the students. Student rewards (ROCKS) were given to students who made positive choices (such as bringing healthy lunches to school). Chief Sunrise Education Centre kicked off Drop the Pop by having the whole school focus on the Water and Rivers section of Dene Kede. Older students researched by how waterways need to be protected. They also learned and practiced traditional methods of collecting clean water and used several types of media to demonstrate these activities (such as art and Powerpoint presentations). The school held a Health Fair that focused on healthier drink alternatives. Students that took part in the events earned a water bottle with the school logo and clean water written in Slavey: Tu K oni. Every Deninu classroom conducted a variety of activities. Older students helped younger students. Activities included: making healthy drinks such as flavoured waters, hot chocolate and tea making healthy snacks, such as banana roll-ups making foods from scratch, such as homemade pasta. An important focus this year was to understand the effects of drinking more water and students had access to a big water cooler to rehydrate; the Regional Dietitian also organized pledge sheets for dropping the pop. Princess Alexandra School conducted a Drop the Pop poster contest that displayed important facts on their Drop the Pop Bulletin Board to promote healthy eating habits and healthy beverages. During student assemblies and the school s public address system, students were provided with information on the negative effects of pop. Students were provided with milk to help promote strong bones. Breakfast and healthy snacks were also promoted; they held a celebration after several healthy eating challenges, such as dropping the pop for two weeks. 2

3 Deh Cho Divisional Education Louie Norwegian School Jean Marie River David Madden, Principal Charles Tetcho School Trout Lake Steven Macfadyen, Principal Tlicho Community Services Agency Jean Wetrade Gamèti Gamèti Brendan Mulcahy, Principal Chief Jimmy Bruneau School Behchokö Patti Turner, Principal Louie Norwegian School held a feast for the community, followed by a Nutrition Fair at the Band Office, which was well-attended by community members. The Nutrition Fair was planned and run by the students. Everyone learned something about nutrition in fun, interactive ways (e.g. the school had stations for dental health, sushi making, grab the tap, drop the pop, an obstacle course, and food related prizes). The fair was found to be an excellent way to raise awareness in the community about making healthy food choices. Charles Tetcho School held a number of educational activities for Drop the Pop, such as comparing beverage labels with water, which lead to healthier drink choices. Students applied math skills and measurement units to write comparisons of health benefits and costs between bottled and tap water and the health effects of dehydration on the body and the brain. Students toured the local water plant and engaged in community recycling efforts. Jean Wetrade School developed a set of informational posters about the negative health effects of drinking pop. The students were asked to find and record information from the posters, and participants were eligible for prizes. The students tried a variety of healthy drinks, fruits, and breakfast items. There were demonstrations of the unhealthy effects of pop, which included the harmful effects of the acid and sugar on teeth, and weight gain attributed to drinking one can of pop a day for a year. Classrooms committed to not drink pop for a week students that didn t drink pop were given a ballot that went towards winning various prizes. Chief Jimmy Bruneau School increased the awareness, knowledge and skills needed to make healthier food and drink choices and why this is so important. An International Food Day was part of the school s nutrition week activities, where classes prepared a healthy meal from a country to share with other classes. Students took turns serving healthy drinks and snacks to their peers. Parents and community members also attended the school s events. Tlicho Community Services Agency 3

4 Elizabeth Mackenzie Elementary School Behchoko John Guthro, Principal Yellowknife Denominational District Education École Saint Joseph School Pat Sullivan, Principal École Saint Patrick High School Coleen McDonald, Principal Yellowknife Education District No. 1 North Slave Young Offender Facility Leo Ehrenberg Instructor École William McDonald School Jeff Seabrook, Principal Elizabeth Mackenzie Elementary School hosted a traditional food and drink day and invited families to attend with participation from community residents to help prepare for the traditional foods day, such as to snare rabbits, catch fish and collect Tamarack. Men from the community helped snare rabbits and catch fish and helped prepare these foods; ladies from the community helped prepare other food items. The traditional foods day included meals of rabbit and fish stew and tamarack tea. St. Joseph s School students wrote and developed a series of daily healthy public service announcements. The theme was to eat and drink fruits and vegetables each day and each class was provided with a fruit and vegetable bowl. Students tracked days they dropped the pop, organized a sugar shocker display and jeopardy game and family events to get active. Students led most of the school activities, including the sugar shocker kit display and offering fellow students fruit and vegetable drinks. St. Patrick High School provided students with information and training involving local gardening projects, such as planting and maintaining indoor and outdoor school gardens and eating local foods, which helps to connect students with growing fresh foods and incorporating these foods into daily meals. The North Slave Young Offender program continues to provide nutrition and food education programming that stresses being able to make healthy foods and food choices in their student s home communities. Access to a water cooler helped our students increase their water consumption. Their nutrition program also promotes locally harvested foods. William McDonald School encouraged students to drink water as a cool alternative thirst quencher all year long. With every Minute to Win it Challenge, winners were given a reusable water bottle to fill from a water dispenser in the gym. Fun facts about water to encourage students to drink water were part of the Drop the Pop week morning announcements. 4

5 Yellowknife Education District No. 1 Mildred Hall Elementary School Katey Simmons, Principal Commission scolaire francophone Territories du Nord-Ouest École Allain St-Cyr Genevieve Charron, Principal Mildred Hall School encouraged students to drink more water each day and to make water their choice of beverage. They provided a water refill station and refillable water bottles for all students. The water refill station has a counter that shows how many plastic bottles they have saved! This water station has spurred many conversations about reducing plastic. During February and March, students tried a wide variety of healthy, homemade smoothies in collaboration with existing programs. École Allain St. Cyr 's Science Club created an informative visual display showing the amount of sugar found in beverages such as juices and pop. Students also made a variety of healthy smoothies. The school held a basketball tournament (students vs. teachers) with prizes that included refillable glass water bottles to promote drinking more water. Positive messages were added to each bottle, such as Best player of the game!! Best team spirit!! Best cheerleader!!! Never give up!! 5